|
 Printer-Friendly Version
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8921
The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that administrators of
employee benefit plans are no longer required to file summary plan descriptions
and related plan changes with the department.
Effective Aug. 5, 1997, with the passage of the Taxpayer Relief Act of
1997, plan administrators subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act will no longer be required to file summary plan descriptions (SPDs),
summary material modifications (SMMs) or updated SPDs with the Labor
Department. These filings cost plan administrators approximately $2.5 million
annually. The new law, however, does not relieve plan administrators from their
obligation to furnish participants and beneficiaries with copies of these
documents.
"The elimination of these filings will reduce the administrative costs
and burdens for both plan administrators and the government," said Olena Berg,
Assistant Secretary for the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA).
"At the same time, the new law gives the department authority to protect the
access of workers to needed plan information."
PWBA is advising plan administrators that they should immediately cease
filing these plan documents with the department, even if the event giving rise
to the filing obligation occurred before Aug. 5, 1997. For example, a plan
amendment adopted on July 1, 1997, would result in a requirement that a SMM be
furnished to participants and beneficiaries and filed with the department
within 210 days after the end of the plan year. Under the new requirement, the
SMM need not be filed with the department.
Until now, PWBA has received over 150,000 SPDs and related filings from
plans each year. Under the new law, plan administrators must furnish copies of
SPDs and other plan documents to the department upon request. In addition, new
civil penalties of up to $100 per day (not to exceed $1,000 per request) may be
assessed against administrators who fail to furnish the requested information
to the department within 30 days.
The SPD is the basic document which gives plan participants and
beneficiaries information about how the plan works, what benefits the plan
provides and how those benefits may be calculated. If any of these plan details
change from what was described in the SPD, participants and beneficiaries must
receive a SMM describing that change. The administrator must also periodically
update the SPD, incorporate all SMMs, and furnish copies of the updated SPD to
participants and beneficiaries.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
| 
